In the domain of structured cable installation, i.e. the installation of a computer network cable infrastructure, below a false floor, such as a false access floor comprising a grid of floor tiles 600 mm by 600 mm, suspended by their corners upon tubular pillars approximately 300 mm to 600 mm high, cables are generally laid directly onto the underlying floor which is typically a concrete floor. In this manner, laying the cables takes a minimal amount of time, but offers no protection to the cables.
Cables generally require some kind of protection. For example, Bulk Category 5 structured cabling and enhanced data cabling should be installed such that it is under near zero stress conditions. Excess stress, or pressure, can be put upon cables nearest to irregular concrete surfaces in particular. Changes in the geometry of a cable affects its return loss and attenuation characteristics and thus the overall performance of the network.
In the light of the foregoing, alternative installations have been developed and are referred to as cable management systems or CMS. By laying the cables onto metal baskets or trays fitted to the concrete floor, protection from the concrete floor is provided and containment for large volumes of cable is possible. However, since these baskets or trays are time consuming to install, they are far from ideal.
Datatray Systems Ltd provide an efficient modular CMS known as Datatray (TM). A welded wire grid with upturned edges forming unshaped channels is provided in prefabricated standard lengths. The channels can be interconnected on site with bolt-on connectors to form a variety of different channel paths for the cables. Channel bridges and junctions are also available and may be connected to the unshaped channels to form the complete system. Unfortunately, the inherent inflexibility of these welded wire grids requires the various modular components to be prefabricated, and thus a time consuming design, manufacture and installation process is necessary for each particular situation. Further, it has been found that the wire grid itself may damage the cabling when a large mass of cabling is laid within the CMS.